Four weeks ago, we chose Le Bugue as our Federale 1 team to follow. Four weeks on and they haven't won a game. But with two points from their latest outing, things are looking up...

Vallée du Girou 21 Le Bugue 19: Le Bugue scored three tries to none but still fell to their fourth defeat of the season at Pechbonnieu as Vallée de Girou's Gael Arandiga kicked six penalties from six attempts to keep the pressure on our garcons.

Despite dominating the scrums and putting up a solid wall in defence, Le Bugue couldn't help giving away clumsy penalties, the last of which, on the halfway line gave scrum-half Pierre Delpech the chance to win the game for Vallée, a chance he duly took.

It had all started so well for les Buguois too. They raced into a 7-0 lead after just two minutes, winger Francois Beaugendre racing over and Tom Marks converting. Arandiga closed the gap to just a point with two penalties before Le Bugue's second try from opposite wing Morgan Souply made it 12-6 on the half hour.

Le Bugue's welsh outside half Marks had spent 10 minutes in the sinbin for a white-card offence - whites are awarded in the Federale divisions for repeated technical offences - but as befits a club that has yet to score a try this season, Vallée couldn't capitalise on the advantage. Arandiga did kick a third penalty before the break to make it 12-9 at the turn, and added two more to give Vallée the lead on 49 minutes.

His sixth successful penalty on 66 minutes seemed to have sealed the win for les Giroudins, but with lock Benoit Blaquiere missing the exciting conclusion for a white-card offence, Le Bugue took advantage and assistant coach Terry Fanolua charged offer for a superb solo try on 73 minutes. Marks converted to put les Buguois into a 19-18 lead, but Delpech's 50-metre kick put Vallée ahead and despite replacement wing Aloisio Butonidualevu earning a strong shout for a try in the dying seconds, the referee didn't agree with the Fijian and Le Bugue had to be content with a pair of bonus points rather than the five points they had their hands on just minutes earlier.

Second string: In a slightly more clear-cut encounter, Vallée du Girou's second team beat Le Bugue reserves 44-14. Like the first team, Le Bugue B await their first win.

Also in Pool 6: Oloron 25 Tyrosse 29; Graulhet 18 Perigueux 13; Lourdes 11 Langon 7

Next up: Le Bugue vs Graulhet, Sunday October 25 at Stade Renaud-Cruveiller. Four games and four defeats in, and Le Bugue couldn't wish for a better game that the visit of Graulhet to Stade Renaud-Cruveiller on Sunday. The Tarn team - sited between Toulouse and Albi some 200km south of Le Bugue - only won their first match of the season on Sunday with an 18-13 win over Perigueux, and currently occupy seventh place, just one above our garcons.

Their slow start to the season - Graulhet have only scored two tries in four games - is in stark contrast to last year, when they finished second in a tough pool that contained eventual Federale 1 semi-finalists Carcassonne and Aix-en-Provence. The second half of the season, the Trophée Jean-Prat promotion race, was less successful as Graulhet won only one of their six games and saw their once-promising season fizzle out prematurely.

Last season's top scorer Mathieu Gratton has stayed with the club and already has 28 points to his name this term, but top try scorer Yannick N'Gog moved down to Carcassonne, where he's already scored as many tries as his ex-teammates combined.

Young centre Julien de Chasteignier, who matched N'Gog's five tries last season, did hang around and got his name on the scoresheet in the week 1 defeat to Lourdes. Prop Raphael Vidal also scored at Lourdes, and since then all the points have come courtesy of the boots of Spanish fly half Gratton and former USAP juniors full back Vincent Majeau.

After Sunday's close call at Vallée du Girou, we think it's high time Le Bugue got off the mark, and fully expect them to give the boys from Graulhet - a former leather town - a good tanning!

The news Fed-lines: At the other end of Pool 6, Tyrosse maintained their 100 per cent record with a 29-25 win at Oloron. Mathieu Visensang and Jonathan Krieff scored Tyrosse's tries, with Thierry Dupré adding 15 points with the boot. A last-minute try for Pierre Serena earned Oloron a bonus point after six Nicolas Picabea penalties had kept the home side in touch throughout.

Only Pool 4 has two teams on 100 per cent, with Carcasonne's Yannick N'Gog making sure of their fourth win with a late try in their 25-21 win at La Seyne. And it was just as well he did as La Seyne winger Fabrice Valette earned his side a bonus point with a try in the dying seconds.

Fellow 100-percenters Aubenas also left it late against Marseille-Vitrolles, full back Damien Chazel kicking a drop goal in the 79th minute after a Kiri Mariner try and three penalties for fly-half Guillaume Marque appeared to have won the game for Marseille. Both teams played the last hour with 14 men after the early dismissals of Aubenas winger Anthony Testud and Marseille flanker Christophe del Pellegrino for fighting.

Pool 2 sees Chalon-sur-Saone and Dijon still unbeaten, Chalon scraping an 8-6 win at Bourg-en-Bresse thanks to a late Ollie Thomas penalty. Dijon had it a little easier, winning 54-13 at bottom club Epernay. Les Dijonnais cut the mustard with eight tries, full back Julien Jeuvrey scoring seven conversions and a try against the Champagne club who seem to have lost their fizz.

Bobigny suffered their first defeat, losing 17-13 at Orleans in Pool 1, allowing recent Pro D2 residents Limoges to take over top spot following their 30-8 victory over Saint-Medard. At the bottom of that pool, Niort notched up their first win over the season, winning 21-19 at local rivals Poitiers. Niort had hooker Jeremy Batigne and lock Robin Guignouard sent off, but seven penalties from former Dax fly half Julien Amirault was still enough to seal the points and keep Poitiers searching for their first win.

It goes without saying that Fed1 behemoths Beziers still have their 100 per cent record intact, a 38-11 victory over Nice marking the latest step up the long ladder back into Pro D2. Les Bitterois scored four tries to one to pick up a bonus point against a club whose relatively big-name squad - Scottish international flanker Ross Beattie arrived on the Cote d'Azur in the summer - is struggling to make an impact.

Valence d'Agen complete the 100 percenters after a six-try, 45-6 win over Mauleon in Pool 5.

You can find all the latest Federale 1 results at ItsRugby.fr

Fédérale 1 Pool 6 table: